SERENA
Long legs, sheathed in black pants, sprawl out before me. Kylian lounges on Derek’s throne—making a fucking mockery of it. In his hand is Derek’s silver and onyx crown.
“What have you done? Where is everyone?”
Eyes made of sea and smoke land on me. “They’re fine. For now. I wanted our reunion to be private. Intimate.”
He swings his legs onto the ground and stands in one streamlined move, tossing the crown onto the velvet cushion and adjusting the black jacket slung over his broad shoulders. He wears nothing underneath except that ridiculous eight-pack.
I take a step back as he ambles toward me.
“You’ve been ignoring my missives.”
“What missives?”
“The letters I sent you?”
“What letters?”
“Silly of me to think they wouldn’t be intercepted.” He shakes his head. “Love letters, darling.”
I would laugh if I weren’t actually terrified.
A dull, distant roar draws my gaze toward the windowed-wall of the throne room. No, not a roar.
Boots. Marching in synchronization. And there they all are—the golden soldiers, the Stryga, the black-armored troops of Aegar—meeting with wild fervor on the fields.
My stomach sinks at the possibility of Jace and Zadyn out there. I have to get to them. But he has to die first.
I crouch into a fighting stance. “Don’t come any closer.”
“Time’s up. Let’s go home.”
“You wasted a trip. I am home.”
“When are you going to get it through your pretty little skull? You and I are fated. There are only so many times you can run from me before I tire of this game and catch you.”
I blast him with a ball of fire. He waves a hand, blocking it with a swirl of shadows and continuing toward me, a dark smile blooming on his decadent mouth.
“We had a bargain.”
“You already breached your terms. You sent your armies a week ago.”
“Thank your captain for that. He’s the one who struck first.” He tsks. “Naughty.”
“It doesn’t matter. Deal’s off, dick.”
Sighing, he says, “Let’s just skip past the part where you pretend to hate me so we can kiss and make up.”
“I do hate you, though. With a burning passion.”
He snickers. “I do enjoy the way you show it.”
Whore,a nasty voice echoes in the darkest corner of my mind.
“What’s that saying? The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference? Hating someone takes energy—it takes time and thought. Which means you think of me more often than you care to admit.”
“You’re delusional. Call off your armies.”
